Apparatus for handling workpieces



Sept. 8, 1964 F. E. MILLER, JR., ETAL APPARATUS FOR HANDLING WORKPIECES Filed Sept. 25, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS E5. MM Z; Z5)? 09?.

BY EHJQTKINSONU'K.

SPENCER BLA V1. 06%, JR. K; g W A. SCHA/CH d TTOPNEYS Sept. 8,1964 F. E. MILLER, JR., ETAL 3,147,347

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING WORKPIECES Filed Sept. 25, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 197' T OKNE Y5 Sept. 8, 1964 F. E. MILLER, JR., ETAL 3,147,347

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING WORKPIECES Filed Sept. 25, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 SPENCER 1.. ELM/LOCK, 4 W A. SCHA/QH United States Patent 3,147,847 APPARATUS FOR HANDLING WORKPIECES Frank E. Miller, Jan, and Raymond A. Atkinson, Jl'.,

Toledo, Ohio, assignors to Owens-Illinois Glass Company, a corporation of ()hio Filed Sept. 25, 1961, Ser. No. 140,598 10 Claims. (Cl. 198131) Our invention is a method of and apparatus for handling small articles, such as closure caps for bottles and the like containers. More particularly, it is concerned with the removal of freshly coated or decorated closure caps from workholders and placement of uncoated caps upon same, the workholders and their manner of functioning being as disclosed, for example, in Miller et al., Patent No. 2,838,035, issued June 10, 1958, and assigned to the assignee of the instant application. In this patent the workholders are elongated bars which carry a plurality of spring clips, the latter being journaled for rotation in the bars, to the end that they and the caps may be rotated in a spray paint zone, for obvious reasons. Stripping of painted caps from the spring clips and loading with unpainted caps have heretofore been effected manually, such being a relatively slow, tedious operation.

An object of our invention is the provision of a simple, reliable method and apparatus for quickly and positively stripping articles from the clips and immediately placing upon these empty clips, caps or the like articles, preparatory to delivering the clip-carrying bars to coating or decorating apparatus, such, for example, as that shown in the above identified patent.

It is also an object of our invention to provide novel means for orienting and contracting the spring clips preparatory to cam-stripping of closure caps or other articles therefrom.

Another object of our invention is the provision of magnetic means operable in conjunction with a device for imparting free rotary motion to the clips to position all clips in a predetermined fashion as required by a cam device wich strips the. caps from the clips.

It likewise is an object of our invention to provide means for placing uncoated articles upon the clips from which caps have just been stripped, such occurring while the clip-carrying bars are advancing along a path coaxial with their longitudinal axes, through adjacent stripping and loading zones, without any change in direction or speed of travel.

A further object of our invention is the provision of novel means operable following placement of closure caps upon the contracted spring clips to cause expansion of these clips into firm holding engagement with the interior of the caps.

Other objects will be in part apparent and in part pointed out herein.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of our application:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of apparatus embodying our invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus, showing the entrance end and medial portions.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the apparatus, showing the cap loading zone with the cap chute removed. Together FIGS. 2 and 3 fairly show the apparatus in top plan.

FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional elevational view taken along the line 44 of FIG. 2 showing the spring clip rotating means and the permanent bar magnets which stop free rotation of the clips in position with their broad flat surfaces parallel to the direction of travel of the clips.

FIG. 5 is a transverse sectional elevational view taken along the line 55 of FIG. 2 showing the spring clip arms contracting or compressing means.

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FIG. 6 is a sectional elevational view taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional plan view taken in the area of FIG. 4 showing the device for rotating the clips.

Our invention is embodied in apparatus carried by a main Wheeled frame 15 (FIG. 1) comprising assembled horizontal angle members 16 and uprights 17 which support a top or table 18 (FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 5), the latter in turn directly supporting the essential elements of our apparatus.

As is perhaps evident, our apparatus is especially suited to the removal or unloading (stripping) of closure caps from a workholder and immediately loading the workholder with fresh caps. By way of further explanation, many closure caps are surface decorated, as by conveying them through a spraying zone where spray guns coat the caps, the latter then being carried through a heated baking oven to dry the coating. According to one commercial operation as revealed in the above identified Miller et al. patent, these closure caps, or similar workpieces, are slipped over the open upper end of substantially U- shaped spring clips which are arranged along the bar-like workholder.

In the present situation, as in the Miller et al. patent, these workholders or bars 19 support the spring clips 20 upright at regularly spaced points. Each clip is a strip of flat leaf spring material bent to generally U-shape with a base 21 secured to a short depending shaft 22 which is freely journaled in a bearing opening 24 in the bar 19. A sprocket or pinion 23 is secured to each shaft below the bar. A pair of arms 25 rise from the base 21, being upwardly divergent and normally spaced apart at their free upper ends a distance somewhat greater than the inside diameter of a closure cap or other workpiece 26 to be telescoped thereover. Thus the arms must be compressed to enter the workpiece and When released, will expand and firmly grip the latter.

These bars or workholders 19 are moved in succession and continuously along a path coincident with their longitudinal axes, thus advancing the spring clips through adjacent zones. In one such zone 0 the clips are properly oriented preparatory to compression or contraction of the clip arms 25 in zone C and subsequent removal of the caps or other articles by elevating them in zone R. Beyond this removal zone R the clips, while still contracted or compressed, pick off caps from the bottom end of the inclined feed chute F in the loading zone L. Thereafter the arms of the clips expand and firmly grasp the caps internally. The loaded workholders then are ready to be conveyed through a paint spray oven (not shown) as in the apparatus of the above identified Miller et al. patent.

The mechanism for moving these loaded workholders through the several zones referred to above comprises a plurality of rollers arranged in pairs spaced apart along the intended path of travel of the workholders. Each pair of rollers includes a driven roller 27 at one side of the path and an opposed driven roller 28 on the other side of said path. Each of these rollers 27 and 28 has a grooved periphery to accommodate the workholders which are of polygonal cross-section. Each driven roller 27 is mounted upon the upper end of a vertical shaft 29 (FIGS. 1, 4 and 5) which is journaled in a bearing 30. Below this bearing (FIGS. 1 and 5) is a gear 31 which meshes with a worm gear 32, the latter mounted upon for rotation with a driven shaft 33. A motor M is operatively connected to the driven shaft 33 through a drive shaft 34. All of the' rollers 27 are driven by the shaft 33. The other set of rollers 28 are each carried by a vertical shaft 35 which is journaled in a bearing 36. This bearing 36 is pivoted to a vertical hinge pin 36* (FIGS. 2 and 5) and a pressure coil spring device 37 urges the bearing,

s3 roller 27, etc. about the hinge pin toward the adjacent opposed driven roller 28, thereby firmly gripping the workholders or bars 19 between them. Rotation of the driven rollers in unison results from their being connected to said shaft 33.

The driven roller 28 is driven at the same speed as driven roller 27. A spur gear 52 is positioned on the lower end of shaft 35 below bearing 36. This gear 52 meshes with a similar gear 51 positioned on the shaft 29 of driven roller 27 Gear 51 is positioned between bearing 30 and gear 31. See FIGURES 4, and 6.

As each cap carrying spring clip enters the orienting zone 0 it moves into a space between a pair of elongated permanent magnets 38 and substantially concurrently therewith the pinion or sprocket 23 below the clip 20 momentarily contacts a fixed cam device 39, or finger, which functions to impart rotary motion to the clip. The magnets 38 in turn stop rotation of the clip with the broad faces lying substantially in planes parallel to the path axis. Thus the clip is properly oriented to enter the clip arms contracting zone C as best shown in FIG. 6.

In the clip arms contracting zone C these arms engage a pair of opposed side belts 40 which have adjacent reaches 40 immediately overlying the rollers 27 and 28. These belts are trained over pulleys 41 which are arranged in pairs near opposite ends of the apparatus. Both of these belts are positively driven at the same rate of travel as the bar (19) is moved through the rollers. One of the positively driven belts (the lower one in FIGS. 2 and 3) receives its power from the aforementioned drive shaft 33 (FIG. 1). At the lower end of the vertical pulley carrying shaft 41 is a gear 41 which is driven by an idler pinion 41 meshing with and positively driven by the adjacent gear 41 The other belt is driven by a similar gear and idler pulley arrangement (not shown), except that the gear opposite gear 41 meshes with gear 41 and is driven thereby. Adjustable idler pulleys 42 maintain the belts at the desired tension. From a point just beyond the magnets 38 to a point near the chute F the adjacent reaches 40 which engage the clip arms 25 are inclined transversely as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, to thereby hold the arms contracted. For this purpose the belts ride over a series of idler rolls 43 which are mounted upon carrier plates 44 (FIG. 5), such rolls having their axes inclined at progressively greater angles to the horizontal away from the entrance end of the apparatus. Upon reaching the desired ultimate position as effected by the idler rolls 43, such position is maintained until cap loading has been effected, by fixed guide plates 45 (FIG. 6) which are secured to the table 18 by screws 46 or similar fasteners. Thus the caps are now free to be elevated automatically and discharged to one side of the apparatus.

This is accomplished by camming means (FIGS. 1, 2 and 5) comprising a pair of laterally spaced apart angularly adjustable inclined plates 47 providing a longitudinal slot 48 therebetween which overlies the path of travel of the caps with its lower entrance end 49 in a plane just below that of the bottom end of the caps. Thus, as the cap carrying clip advances, it enters the slot 48 (FIG. 5) and the cam plate immediately engages and lifts the cap. Air jets from the nozzles N (FIG. 2) quickly propel the elevated caps into the lateral discharge chute 50 for delivery to any suitable receptacle (not shown). These clips, now empty, but still contracted, then move beneath the bottom end of the inclined feed chute F and from the lower end of the latter pick off a cap. Such cap, as in many conventional cap chutes, is releasably held, open side down, in the path of advance of the upper ends of the clip arms. Thus, as the latter advance, they enter the cap and pull it out of the chute, such cap then coming to rest about as shown in FIG. 5. As the clip, with the cap'thereon, advances, it moves beyond the terminus of the fixed guide plates 45 and enters the space between the roll-backed belts. These rolls 51 are arranged in the reverse order of those in zone C to allow gradual expansion of the arms of the clip and consequent firm grasping of the workpiece.

These workholders, having been reloaded with caps, or other articles, may now be placed upon racks, or perhaps immediately fed into a spray painting apparatus (not shown). The mode of operation of our apparatus evidently is abundantly clear from the foregoing.

Modifications may be resorted to within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In apparatus for stripping finished hollow articles from workholders wherein the latter each comprises an elongated bar and individual article supports, each being an upright normally expanded U-shape spring clip journaled at its base in the bar and a pinion-like element connected to the base portion for rotation therewith about the longitudinal axis of the clip, means for advancing a bar along a path coaxial with the axis of said bar with articles telescoped over the upper ends of the expanded clips, means in one zone contacting and imparting rotary motion to said pinion-like element for orienting the clips so that an imaginary line through the arms of the clips extends across said path, means in a succeeding zone directly contacting the clips arms for progressively applying side pressure to the clips thereby to contract the arms and free articles for removal, means for then removing the articles and discharging them to one side of said path, and means for then placing new articles upon the clips, the means for contracting the clip arms terminating at a preselected point near that at which the new articles are placed upon the clips whereby the clips may again expand to firmly grasp the new articles.

2. In apparatus as defined in claim 1, the side pressure applying means being a pair of belt-like elements extending along the path, one at each side thereof.

3. In apparatus as defined is claim 1, the means for placing new articles upon the clips being an inclined chute down which articles move by gravity to its lower end and means for releasably holding single articles at the lower end of said chute in a position to be removed from the latter by the advancing clips.

4. In apparatus as defined in claim 1, the article removing means being a slotted cam device for elevating articles from the contracted clips and means for ejecting the elevated articles to one side of the path.

5. In apparatus as defined in claim 2, and guide means for the belts progressively increasing the clip contracting effectiveness of the belts.

6. In apparatus as defined in claim 4, the ejecting means being a chute extending laterally from the cam device and air nozzles for directing air under pressure against the elevated articles and propelling them into the chute.

7. In apparatus for stripping finished hollow articles from workholders wherein the latter each comprises an elongated bar and individual article supports, each being an upright U-shape spring clip journaled at its base in the bar and a pinionlike element connected to the base portion for rotation therewith about the longitudinal axis of the clip, means for advancing a bar along a path coaxial with the axis of said bar with articles telescoped over the upper ends of the clips, means in one zone contacting and imparting rotary motion to said pinion-like element for orienting the clips magnet means for abruptly terminating rotation of the clips so that an imaginary line through the arms of the clips extends across said path,

means in a succeeding zone for progressively applying 5 means being a fixed protuberance engageable with each pinion-like element to thereby rotate the latter and with it the article carrying clip, and a permanent magnet along said path and at least in part beside the protuberance for terminating rotation when the arms of the clips are at opposite sides of the path axis.

9. In apparatus \as defined in claim 7, the article removing means being a. pair of opposed inclined plates for elevating articles from the contracted clips.

10. Apparatus as defined in claim 9, and a lateral chute into which removed articles are discharged by said plates.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. IN APPARATUS FOR STRIPPING FINISHED HOLLOW ARTICLES FROM WORKHOLDERS WHEREIN THE LATTER EACH COMPRISES AN ELONGATED BAR AND INDIVIDUAL ARTICLE SUPPORTS, EACH BEING AN UPRIGHT NORMALLY EXPANDED U-SHAPED SPRING CLIP JOURNALED AT ITS BASE IN THE BAR AND A PINION-LIKE ELEMENT CONNECTED TO THE BASE PORTION FOR ROTATION THEREWITH ABOUT THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF THE CLIP, MEANS FOR ADVANCING A BAR ALONG A PATH COAXIAL WITH THE AXIS OF SAID BAR WITH ARTICLES TELESCOPED OVER THE UPPER ENDS OF THE EXPANDED CLIPS, MEANS IN ONE ZONE CONTACTING AND IMPARTING ROTARY MOTION TO SAID PINION-LIKE ELEMENT FOR ORIENTING THE CLIPS SO THAT AN IMAGINARY LINE THROUGH THE ARMS OF THE CLIPS EXTENDS ACROSS SAID PATH, MEANS IN A SUCCEEDING ZONE DIRECTLY CONTACTING THE CLIPS ARMS FOR PROGRESSIVELY APPLYING SIDE PRESSURE TO THE CLIPS THEREBY TO CONTRACT THE ARMS AND FREE ARTICLES FOR REMOVAL, MEANS FOR THEN REMOVING THE ARTICLES AND DISCHARGING THEM TO ONE SIDE OF SAID PATH, AND MEANS FOR THEN PLACING NEW ARTICLES UPON THE CLIPS, THE MEANS FOR CONTRACTING THE CLIP ARMS TERMINATING AT A PRESELECTED POINT NEAR THAT AT WHICH THE NEW ARTICLES ARE PLACED UPON THE CLIPS WHEREBY THE CLIPS MAY AGAIN EXPAND TO FIRMLY GRASP THE NEW ARTICLES. 